Document FR-A-2 915 292 discloses another method of modifying the written procedures of the database. In that method, the operator creates an electronic database relating to the alterations it seeks to make to the written procedures and it loads the database into the warning system. When a procedure is to be applied, the system consults the database and gives priority to the procedure as modified thereby. If there is no such modification, then by default it applies the procedure as provided in the manufacturer's database. The term “customized” database is used herein to designate the database that provides the personalization desired by the operator of the aircraft. By way of example, such a database is known as an operator customized ECAM database (OCED), where the acronym ECAM stands for electronic centralized aircraft monitoring. (ECAM is a set of visible and audible information systems and monitoring systems in the environment of an aircraft cockpit.) The database as loaded in this way provides changes compared with the written messages that are defined by default in the application. It thus constitutes a relative database.
Under such conditions, it is possible to modify the content of any written message that is to be displayed in the cockpit by the warning computer, and this can be done without requiring a specific standard to be developed. By using the customization database that is loaded in the warning system, the warning system becomes capable of modifying the content of the written messages that it handles.
Such a database may also be issued by the manufacturer, e.g. when seeking to provide modifications or improvements to the database as originally loaded, e.g. in the presence of a new standard for the warning software.
The customization database is produced by means of a dedicated tool. It is then loaded into the hardware device known as the core processing and input/output module (CPIOM) that hosts the warning system application.
The operator customization database has an applicability date. It is from this date that the modified procedures are to be implemented. However, once installed on board an aircraft in the target CPIOM, the new database is taken into account immediately by the warning system. Ideally, the new database should therefore be installed in all of the airplanes on the fleet on the applicability date.
It will nevertheless be understood that it is not possible for an operator possessing a large fleet to achieve synchronized updating over the entire fleet. The airplanes of the fleet are geographically dispersed on the applicability date for the new database. Furthermore, the updating of each airplane gives rise to immobilization costs. The database needs to be loaded into the CPIOM. This procedure for installing the new database on board does not form part of the competence of a pilot. The database must therefore be loaded by maintenance personnel. The operator thus prefers loading the database at the time of a programmed maintenance stage. However, the program maintenance date does not necessarily correspond to the applicability date of the new database. Unfortunately, when the airplanes in the fleet are updated and the new procedure is applied on different dates, that gives rise to coordination and management difficulties, in particular in terms of informing and training crew.